Noteworthy

Published 9:54 pm, Sunday, September 22, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - SEPTEMBER 14: Oracle Team USA skipper James Spithill fields a question from the media after defeated Emirates Team New Zealand during race eight of the America's Cup finals on September 14, 2013 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Stephen Lam/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 167962453

SAN FRANCISCO — Jimmy Spithill and his mates with Oracle Team USA were masterful in light air Sunday on San Francisco Bay, winning two races against Emirates Team New Zealand to stay alive in the America's Cup.

Oracle's 72-foot catamaran jumped to huge leads in both races and has won four straight since the Kiwis reached match point on Wednesday.

Oracle, which has won six of the past eight races, cut the Kiwis' lead to 8-5 and needs four more wins to keep the trophy.

College football: There is little movement in The Associated Press college football poll this week. Alabama remains No. 1 and the first 14 teams in the rankings held their positions from last week. The Crimson Tide did lose some support from the media panel, dropping from 59 first-place votes last week to 56. Alabama beat Colorado State 31-6 on Saturday in a game that was 17-6 heading into the fourth quarter. No. 2 Oregon, which didn't play, received the other four first-place votes.

WNBA:Tamika Catchings had 18 points and 12 rebounds and the Indiana Fever advanced to the Eastern Conference finals by completing a best-of-three series sweep of the Chicago Sky with a 79-57 victory Sunday. The Fever (18-18) will play at either Atlanta or Washington in Game 1 of the conference finals on Thursday.

Tennis: Second-seeded Gilles Simon beat two-time defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-3 to win the all-French Open de Moselle final for his first title of the year. ... Sixth-seeded Ernests Gulbiswon his fourth career title by rallying to beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 at the St. Petersburg Open in Russia. ... Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-4 to win the Korea Open. ...Venus Williams overpowered Mona Barthel 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the second round of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. Williams set up a second-round matchup with top-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who has a first-round bye.